The decision to lift the ban on Ukrainian grain imports will spark heavy protests, Agriculture Minister Kiril Vatev told bTV on Wednesday. According to him, farmers have declared readiness to strike.
On Tuesday, the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Policy and Innovation adopted a draft decision for Bulgaria to lift the ban on Ukrainian import of certain products after September 15, 2023. The final decision is to be taken in plenary. Bulgaria's draft position states that the country does not support the extension of the Ukrainian import ban beyond September 15, 2023, which allows wheat, rapeseed, sunflower, and corn to transit through Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia, but bans the products' availability on the countries' domestic markets. The National Grain Producer Association (NGPA) expressed its outrage at the decision in a statement sent to the media on Tuesday, and industry representatives present at the committee meeting did as well.
He called for serious consideration of the issue from both sides - the government and the agricultural sector, "because both with and without a ban, this year is extremely difficult for agriculture because of the drought, the floods, because there is a collapse in the world grain market".
Vatev said that MPs had not discussed with him the ban's lifting. He said that on the country-level, the ban's lifting would create extreme tension in the entire agricultural sector. He added that he is unfamiliar with the foreign policy point of view.
Vatev noted that the decision will cause heavy protests, and the issue needs to be assessed very carefully. "There is solidarity with Ukraine and there are corridors of solidarity running through Bulgaria. Bulgaria is as sympathetic as possible, but we still have our own production and producers whose interests must be protected," Vatev said.
According to him, even if the ban on grain imports from Ukraine were lifted, it would hardly affect the prices of final products in Bulgaria.
/YV/
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